Faceless
by Red Prophet
Summary: A simple casette tape can mean much more to a person than you've ever thought, the eccentric businessman Kaiba Seto reflects on his inner demons, and the alter ego he had created so long ago... ~Inspired by Garth Nix~
1. Shade

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[Recorded Archive]

  
  


[Self Examination]

  
  


"I am Kaiba Seto, adopted son of Kaiba Gozaburo. I am not Shade. I am not him, nor will I ever be. And I definitely do not need to harm anyone, more importantly, I do not want to harm anyone, nothing, no one in the damn world. I do not need to struggle to gain control of this body!"

  
  


[Movement Dectected]

  
  


"I am not Kaiba Seto."

  
  


"Yes I...fucking...well...am!"

  
  


"No I am not. I am Shade."

  
  


"You might be Shade, but I certainly am not! Oh God, how do I get out of here?!"

  
  


"I...we...cannot be Shade...not Shade Seto!"

  
  


"I am Kaiba Seto, and you Shade, are nothing more than a creation, a distraction, an escape, a alter ego created by me! You are what that bastard Gozaburo left me with! You and that blasted company! Now with Mokuba gone I have nothing! Fucking nothing!"

  
  


"Terminate session immediately!"

  
  


"I don't want it terminated!"

  
  


"What do you think you're doing?"

  
  


"I'm...taking myself over again! You...you tryannical shit! I can't believe I had this in my personality!"

  
  


"Seto, why do you think there's blood on your clothing?"

  
  


[Elapse Of Time]

  
  


"Seto, answer me. Why do you think your arms, hands, and clothes are painted red?"

  
  


"Oh God."

  
  


[Error]

  
  


[Shut Down and Restart]

  
  


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A/N: A tad confusing, no? Well everything should start to make sense in the upcoming chapters, this was just a mere introduction. Yes I know, the sentences are choppy and short, but that's the style of writing I'm going to use for this fanfiction. Besides, you can't really get any description from a casette recording can you, you can only get the emotions of the person who's being recorded. I give credit to "Shade's Children" by Garth Nix, for this first chapter of the story has been inspired by his work, but the next chapters should just be Seto reflecting off his past, and what happened to Mokuba and himself...

  


-Red Prophet


	2. Orphan

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[System Restarted]

  
  


[Proceed With Self Examination]

  
  


"I Kaiba Seto, am diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. I Kaiba Seto, have insisted all my life, that the past means nothing to me. I was wrong, it does. It's the reason I'm here now, making this blasted cassette. So...when I'm gone maybe some of me will still be left here, and everyone will know what I've been through. What I've accomplished. All in all this is some sort of twisted suicide note, one that I don't have time to write, only speak."

  
  


[Elapse Of Time]

  


"I...I think it best that I start from the beginning. My parents.....I barely remember them at all. I've forgotten what it was like to be with them, I've forgotten what it was like to be innocent. To not have a care in the world, to always know that someone would be there for me. My mother, she...she passed away giving birth to my brother Mokuba, and my father died in a car accident shortly after. Mokuba didn't have any memory of them, perhaps that's for the best though. I remember when I found out the news, back then...I was still able to cry. Heh, no one wanted us, not even our own relatives. They rejected us, two innocent children. They deprived us of a decent life, with warmth and happiness. They let us go to the public orphanage, it seemed we could have died along with our parents. And they wouldn't have cared the least."

  
  


[Movement Detected]

  
  


"No one wanted to adopt Mokuba, but ah yes. Many parents were interested in adopting me, a so called genius. I could never convince one to adopt Mokuba as well, no matter how hard I tried. And so...I stayed with him and the other children at the orphanage, waiting for the perfect mom, dad, anyone who was interested in taking us both. I couldn't have left Mokuba there, it was my duty to protect him...and I've carried out that duty...that is until now."

  
  


[Laughter]

  
  


"But then of course....then comes the day when he comes waltzing in...the day Gozaburo came into our lives...the day I sold myself into a world of pain."

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A/N: Now it's a little more clear, it's just Kaiba talking now, although we shall get back to exactly who 'Shade' is soon enough. On that note Dissociative Identity Disorder, is when a person develops a personality, or multiple personalities on their own, due to events that may have happened in their life. Forgive me for being so bland, I don't want to give anything away in this story. ^^;;; 

  


The reason why it's 'Kaiba Seto' in this fanfiction, instead of 'Seto Kaiba' is because in Japan you say your last name first, in case that wasn't clear to some of the readers.

  


Thanks to all the reviewers, I'm glad some people are reading this story :P

  


-Red Prophet


	3. Abuse

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[Proceeding With Self Examination]

  
  


"I remember the day Gozaburo arrived at the orphanage, he was handing out assorted toys to the children. It was just a publicity stunt as far as I'm concerned, Gozaburo would have never done something like that unless it was absolutely necessary for him to do so. I recognized him from a televised chess match, in addition to owning Kaiba Corporation, Gozaburo was one of the most elite chess players in the world at that time. So in my mind I made the conclusion that if I could get that man to adopt Mokuba and I, everything would be all right from then on.

  
  


How completely idiotic I was...

  
  


I challenged the old man to a simple game of chess. If I won, Gozaburo would adopt Mokuba and I, making us heirs to the Kaiba Corporation. To this he laughed, he just threw his head back and laughed at me, as if he took me for a joke. But somehow he agreed, perhaps he thought that playing a small game of chess with a random kid would look good.

  
  


The outcome? What the hell do you think it was? I'm sitting here, now telling you all of this because I was foolish enough to boast my talents, and win the chess match. True it did give Mokuba and I secure futures, but with that also came a price.

  
  


Gozaburo had the sick idea to "prepare" me for the intense life as CEO of Kaiba Corporation, the abuse was not bad in his eyes. It was necessary...in his eyes it was more like "training."

  
  


[Laughter]

  
  


Can you please tell me how being chained to a desk, being forced to study nonstop, and being whipped by a riding crop is fucking "training?"

  
  


Well...I suppose what Gozaburo wanted did come to be. Under him I became cold, hard, ruthless, and unforgiving, the so called perfect businessman. But something else, that wasn't of Gozaburo's intentions happened.

  
  


I don't know what I was thinking. 

  


When I was studying, or when Gozaburo wanted to personally "instruct" me, I'd try so hard not to feel the pain, to pretend that it wasn't me getting beaten, that it was someone else. Someone stronger than me, someone who wasn't afraid of Gozaburo. And when I pretended to be that different person, every single time that I was chained to that desk, every time single time I was being struck, the different person came into reality.

  
  


It was because of Gozaburo "Shade" came to be."

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A/N: So everything is starting to fall into place, no? I'll go into more depth about "Shade" in some other chapter, right now we're just touching over his past, and after that is finished then we'll start looking into how Kaiba feels about Yuugi, Shizuka, Mokuba, and some other members of the cast.

  


Review....

  


-Red Prophet

  
  
  



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